Robbie Findley

For those of a similar name, see Robert Finley and Robert Findlay (disambiguation).

Robbie Findley

Findley playing for Nottingham Forest
Personal information
Full name	Robert Findley
Date of birth	(1985-08-04) August 4, 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s)	Forward
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2006	Oregon State Beavers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2006	Boulder Rapids Reserve	17	(15)
2007	LA Galaxy	9	(2)
2007–2010	Real Salt Lake	96	(29)
2011–2013	Nottingham Forest	25	(3)
2012	→ Gillingham (loan)	7	(0)
2013–2014	Real Salt Lake	41	(7)
2015	Toronto FC	25	(2)
2016	Rayo OKC	20	(4)
Total		240	(62)
International career
2008	United States U23	5	(0)
2007–2010	United States	11	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Findley (born August 4, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007.

Findley played college soccer for the Oregon State Beavers and amateur soccer for the Boulder Rapids Reserve before turning professional in 2007. He played in Major League Soccer for Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, before moving to English club Nottingham Forest in January 2011. After a loan at Gillingham, Findley returned to Real Salt Lake before spells with Toronto FC and Rayo OKC.

Early and personal life

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Findley attended Shadow Mountain High School, graduating in 2003. ^[1] Findley is a cousin of basketball players Mike Bibby and Eddie House, and American football wide receiver Shaun McDonald. ^[1] He is of Trinidadian descent. ^[2]

Club career

College and amateur

Findley began his career playing college soccer at Oregon State University. ^[3] Later, he spent two seasons with the Boulder Rapids Reserve of the USL Premier Development League. ^[4]

Major League Soccer

Findley was selected by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the second round of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft as the sixteenth pick overall. ^[5]

On June 21, 2007, Findley was traded along with midfielder Nathan Sturgis to Real Salt Lake in exchange for veteran forward Chris Klein. ^[6] He joined Danish Superliga side Brøndby on trial in January 2009. ^[7] However, he failed to secure a contract with the club and returned to Salt Lake. In the following season, he had three multi-goal matches, including the first hat trick in franchise history. ^[8]

In the 2009 MLS Cup Final, Findley scored in the 64th minute, tying the match at 1–1; Salt Lake later emerged victorious in penalty kicks, claiming the MLS Cup in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the MLS Cup final. ^[9]

Findley's contract with Real Salt Lake expired at the end of the 2010 MLS season, and he announced his intentions to leave MLS and move to Europe. ^[10] Despite this statement of intent, Findley was selected by Portland Timbers in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, enabling Portland to retain his MLS rights should he ever choose to return to the league. ^[11]

Nottingham Forest

After a short trial with English club Wolverhampton Wanderers in mid-December 2010, Findley was signed as a free agent by English Championship club Nottingham Forest on December 23, 2010, subject to receiving a work permit. His work permit was approved at a F.A. hearing in London on January 15, 2011. ^[12] Findley incurred a thigh injury in training shortly after joining Forest and became unavailable until Spring 2011. ^[13] After several months on the sidelines, Findley finally made his debut for Forest on April 22, 2011, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 victory over East Midlands rivals Leicester City. ^[14]

Findley made his full competitive debut for Forest on August 8, 2011, in a home fixture against Notts County in the first round of the 2011–12 Football League Cup. Findley scored Forest's second goal—his first goal for the club—after having an earlier effort ruled out for offside. He also converted his penalty in the match's penalty shoot-out, which Forest won. ^[15] Forest manager Steve McClaren said: "He can have a big impact in the Championship. He is as fast as lightning. He is quick, he covers a lot of ground, he works for the team, he defends when he has to and, most importantly, he can get a goal". ^[16] After struggling for first-team opportunities in 2012, Findley was loaned to League Two club Gillingham on September 21, 2012, for an initial period of one month. ^[17] He made his debut for Gillingham in a 2–0 away win at Port Vale, and supplied the cross for the first goal. ^[18] Vale manager Micky Adams stated that "the pace of Findley scared the life out of" his team. ^[19] After seven appearances for the Gills, Findley returned to Forest. ^[20]

On January 14, 2013, Nottingham Forest announced that Findley's contract had been terminated by mutual consent. ^[21]

Return to Major League Soccer

Following his release from Forest, Real Salt Lake acquired Findley's MLS rights from Portland in exchange for allocation money and re-signed him on January 16, 2013. ^[22]

On December 1, 2014, it was announced that Salt Lake had declined their option on Findley's contract. ^[23] Findley entered the 2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft on December 12, 2014, and was chosen in the first round of stage one by Toronto FC. ^[24] He scored a goal in his first game for Toronto to start the 2015 season. ^[25] Findley would go on to finish the season scoring 2 goals for Toronto FC.

On February 10, 2016, it was reported that Findley was no longer with Toronto FC. ^[26]

NASL

On February 24, 2016, Findley signed a contract with Rayo OKC of the NASL, the second tier in the American soccer pyramid. ^[27] On April 22, 2016, Findley scored his first goal for Rayo OKC in a 3–2 victory over Miami FC. ^[28]

On March 6, 2018, Findley announced his retirement from professional soccer. ^{[29] [30]}

International career

Findley made his international debut for the United States national team in October 2007 ^{[1] [31]} and made three appearances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, starting at forward for the US against England and Slovenia in the group stage of the tournament, as well as starting in the round of 16 match against Ghana. ^[32]

Career statistics

As of February 14, 2016 ^{[1] [31] [33]}

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Boulder Rapids Reserve	2005	9	10	–	–	–	–	–	–	9	2
	2006	8	5	–	–	–	–	–	–	8	5
	Total	17	15	–	–	–	–	–	–	17	15
Los Angeles Galaxy	2007	9	2	–	–	0	0	–	–	9	2
	Total	9	2	–	–	0	0	–	–	9	2
Real Salt Lake	2007	16	6	–	–	0	0	–	–	16	6
	2008	29	6	–	–	3	0	–	–	32	6
	2009	27	12	–	–	4	3	–	–	31	15
	2010	24	5	–	–	2	1	6	0	32	6
	Total	96	29	–	–	9	4	6	0	111	33
Nottingham Forest	2010–11	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2011–12	23	3	1	0	3	3	0	0	27	6
	2012–13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	25	3	1	0	3	3	0	0	29	6
Gillingham (loan)	2012–13	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	Total	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Real Salt Lake	2013	25	6	4	0	5	2	–	–	34	8
	2014	16	1	1	1	1	0	–	–	18	2
	Total	41	7	5	1	6	2	–	–	52	10
Toronto FC	2015	25	2	–	–	1	0	–	–	26	2
	Total	25	2	–	–	1	0	–	–	26	2
Rayo OKC	2016	20	4	1	0	1	0	–	–	22	4
	Total	20	4	–	–	1	0	–	–	22	4
Career total		240	62	7	1	20	9	6	0	273	72

References

1. "Profile". Major League Soccer.
2. "USA squad". May 26, 2010.
3. "Profile". Oregon State Beavers. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012.
4. "13 USL Alums on US World Cup Roster". USL Soccer. May 26, 2010. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012.
5. "Galaxy select five players in MLS SuperDraft". Our Sports Central. January 12, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
6. "Findley, Sturgis go to RSL". L.A. Soccer News. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
7. "Amerikaner på prøve i Brøndby". Avisen.dk. January 20, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
8. Michael Black (April 3, 2009). "Findley nets RSL's first-ever hat trick". Deseret News. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
9. "CNNSI.com - Salt Lake's MLS title brings hope to sporting underdogs everywhere". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. November 23, 2009. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
10. Randy Davis (November 22, 2010). "RSL announce Findley will try luck overseas". Major League Soccer.
11. Jeremiah Oshan (November 24, 2010). "MLS Expansion Draft, Analysis: Whitecaps Showed Greater Willingness To Spend". SBNation.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
12. "Nottingham Forest sign USA striker Robbie Findley". BBC Sport. December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
13. "Nottingham Forest's Robbie Findley close to fitness". BBC Sport. April 14, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
14. Paul Fletcher (April 22, 2011). "Nott'm Forest 3 - 2 Leicester". BBC Sport. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
15. "Match report: Forest 3 Notts 3 AET (Forest win 4-3 on penalties)". This is Nottingham. August 10, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
16. "McClaren: Findley can have big impact with the Reds". This is Nottingham. August 12, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
17. "Gillingham sign Nottingham Forest's Robbie Findley on loan". BBC Sport. September 21, 2012.
18. "Port Vale 0-2 Gillingham". BBC Sport. September 22, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
19. "Threat of Nottingham's Findley helps Gillingham go clear in League Two". nz.news.yahoo.com. September 25, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
20. Day, Richard (November 1, 2012). "Scunthorpe Preview". gillinghamfootballclub.com. Gillingham F.C. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
21. Nicholson, Fraser (January 14, 2013). "Robbie Findley". nottinghamforest.co.uk. Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved January 14, 2013. Nottingham Forest can confirm Robbie Findley has had his contract with the Club cancelled by mutual consent.
22. "Real Salt Lake acquires rights to Robbie Findley from Portland". MLS. January 16, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
23. "Real Salt Lake begin retooling roster, decline options on Robbie Findley, three others | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
24. "Former Sporting Kansas City goalkeepers Eric Kronberg, Andy Gruenebaum taken in Re-Entry Draft | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
25. Clipperton, Joshua (March 7, 2015). "Toronto FC defeats Vancouver in season opener Jozy Altidore scores twice and Robbie Findley adds one in 3-1 victory over Whitecaps". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
26. "Robbie Findley Released by Toronto FC". FanSided Inc. February 9, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
27. "Rayo OKC signs Robbie Findley". rayookc.com. February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
28. "RAYO OKC GRINDS OUT FIRST NASL WIN, EDGING MIAMI FC IN 3-2 THRILLER". nasl.com. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
29. "Former RSL striker Robbie Findley retires". RSL Soapbox. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
30. "Robbie Findley on Instagram: "Recently I was asked where I was now playing. Although I've already made the decision to retire from professional soccer I have yet to…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
31. Robbie Findley at National-Football-Teams.com
32. Robbie Findley – FIFA competition record (archived)
33. Robbie Findley at Soccerbase